Control-cab coaches in the FS
Since the 40's, italian railways - after some foreign positive experiences - would try to make faster some kind of services erasing shunting and looping trains time, mostly when trains were arriving in station with dead tracks, such Roma Termini or Milano Centrale. The only way to solve this problem was testing trains with a blocked consist and with a control-cab coach at one end from which governate the loco with a remote system. First coaches chosen to try this configuration were those of the class BCDI 65.500 - 509 (pic 3), built in 1938 with 2 axles and so trasformed in 1940 adding the cab, lights and a phone-wire system, with a change in numeration: npABDI 68.020 - 026. After years of daily use this group of coaches and those built in next years were converted to boogies (type AA) from 1960 to 1963, mainly to improve the stability while rolling with the loco pushing. The next group of 10 coaches came from the rebuilding in 1951/1952 of again 2 axles units built in 1938 as class CI 35.000 - 099/200 - 289, with the cab and a wide baggage room added. These units - first 2 axles then on boogies - began service as npABDz 68.000 - 009 (pic 1 and 4). Shortly after cam other 6 units taken from the same original group but rebuilt with all second class compartment and by this classified as npBDz 68.100 - 105. Next coaches were rebuilted from old 3 axles coaches of class CDiy 67.400 - 449 of 1933, later labeled npBDiy 68.900 - 90x and used still in the 70's on car-carrying push-pull trains on Frejus line, between Bardonecchia and Modane (pic 2). Following these positive experiences on casually chosen coaches, other 15 cars were built using old frames of demolishing wood body coaches: it was the 1953 and until 1955 took service these vehicles identical to "Corbellini" center-door cars plus the cab, called pCiz 734.850 - 864, then pB 734.850 - 864. Last improvements on this way was in 1960 when, with the rebuilding of 6 "centoporte" (one-hundred-doors) made up in 1948 (class Cz 37.300 - 417), took service cab coaches in class npBDz 68.200 - 205. All these cars where finally a rough rebuilding of ancient stock, all equipped with a system called "citofono Perego" which let verbal communications from the driver in the loco cab and the agent in the coach cab. They were mostly used in metropolitan areas around Napoli and in special services as that one on Frejus line, even if the best use was on short local trains on lines like Torino - Chieri and Susa - Bussoleno, where they were push-pulled by equipped E.626 locos and last E.400 units. It was just on 1967 that a new more advanced system was tested, exactly when first really new coaches were built to answer the growing demand of commuters services around big cities. First "low floor" cab-coaches were those 20 units of class npBD 82-38.000 - 019, used together with similar cars and with specially equipped locos E.646. The new thing was infact the electric 78 poles wire running along all the consist, permitting the total remote control of an empty loco. The revolution carried by this push-pull trains running at 120km/h with the pushing loco permitted best local services, until satisfied FS - after years of common use - ordered other 165 cab-coaches (class npBD 82-39.000 - 164) built from 1975 (pic 5). Equipped of 24 type boogies, these cars were the first wearing new beige/orange and purple livery and rested until around 1981 the unbeatable "queens" on this kind of trains. In that year infact took place new 2 floors coaches, identical to those in service on SNCF, following a project made reality on 248 cars plus other 52 cab-coaches, labeled npB 26-39.800 - 851 (pic 6). With these units the problem of mass commuters trips around cities like Milano and Roma was successfully solved, mainly thanks to their huge automatic doors and to their big capacity. In the same time the FS started to put in service new MDVC coaches, mainly to substitute old centoporte and corbellini cars still in use and no more responding to a modern concept of mobility. In 1980 came first nBz cars of total 575 units built, together to 56 cab coaches of type npBD 82-79.000 - 855 with flat end cab and communication front door (pic 9). These MDVC units were tought for regional services on short and medium distances, in diesel or electric traction. The difference was made by the cab unit: these 56 with front door wer dedicated to electric traction, while for diesel one other coaches were built from 1984 in 79 units, charactherized by an aerodynamic cab (pic 7). Many critics and polls were made on the external impact of these cabs, like a famous one on a number of italian editon of Voies Ferres where a comparation was made between these coaches and other similar built in France for their Conrail trains. But the original plan studied diverse cars for diverse services, so in 1981 arrived other 751 coaches of similar concept but named as MDVE, colored in a new grey/red scheme and assigned to direct trains, then called interregionali. For these units other 150 cab-coaches were built in new livery, but identical to MDVC cab ones (pic 8). The difference was in the electrical system: in MDVC cabs it was for diesel locos, in MDVE ones it was for electric locos. For all these series a recent boogie was applied: with the type F.1 and its typical form the velocity of 160km/h became easily accessble, even while the loco was on the rear. At the end of the 80's the first batch of 20 low-floor cars were modified for a better cab-life, with no more communication front door and with a better visibility but paying the cost of an horrible aspect (pic 10). The situation rested for a while, with just some little modifications to some units: on a part of cab-coaches was mounted an handicap equipment (by this add an H to the class: npBDH) and on other 20 MDVE cars was installed a break-fast point (new name npBDHR). In 1999 - with the inauguration of Leonardo Express Roma Termini-Fiumicino airport services - appeared first consists of rebuilt X coaches, coupled with first of 54 total units called npBDH 80-78.300 - 354 made up by X cars with a cab added; this is of the same design of those used on the E.444 locos revamping (pic 11). Now these units are in service quite all over Italy, mostly with consists push-pulled by new E.464s. Last progress on this kind of rolling stock was in 2000, with the slow putting in work of freshly new cab-units type Z. These coaches are the first attempt to elevate the concept of the push-pull trains to more important IC trains, with max. velocity fixed around 200km/h. Those 20 cars are labeled npB 80-90.000 - 019 and mount the new control system called TCN, which permit to fully control diverse type of locos, avoiding in this way the specific use of a certain class on only push-pull services. But by now the real use of these coaches has been reduced by many problems given right from the new TCN system; so they are working only on Venezia line and on Milano-Roma line and just with class E.402A locos. By a short time even E.402B have been admitted to being coupled to these trains. With these last cars, FS have win the stereotype of a cab-coach looking as a bad copy of a loco, even externally; infact Z cars are looking very nice with an elegant cab design that make the rear of a train similar to the head front. Let's see what will be happening when Trenitalia will make real the project of taking away from ETR.500s fixed consist their E.404 locos to put them on IC normal trains. Will this mean new cab coaches? The future will tell.